'If she has wealth, it is all the better, as you have none,' continued the epistle. 'And as far as name is required, a Falconer is just as good as a Montgomerie, I suppose.'
'I am doubtful if Sir Piers shares this opinion,' thought Falconer; but, for the future, he resolved to write no more to Fotheringhame on the subject now growing daily nearer his heart.
'When I put on my first red coat,' continued Fotheringhame, 'I resolved, if I married at all, to condescend to nothing less than a young dowager duchess, a peeress in her own right, or an heiress, beautiful as a houri; but none of these have, as yet, come in my way.'
Falconer lost no time in paying Hew, who gave back the I.O.U., and invited him to have his revenge in a little 'mild play' that night in his own room; and the former promised to take it if he could, resolving the while to keep a sharp watch upon his adversary's play.
Falconer had not been without a hint concerning it from Mrs. Garth, who took a motherly interest in him, as a young officer—more than all, as one of her 'own Cameronians,' as she was wont to call the corps.
'You and Hew sit up very late at night, I fear,' she remarked incidentally; 'smoking, I suppose?'
'Yes.'
'Any play?'
'A little.'
'Take care,' she resumed softly; 'those who play with Hew often lose and seldom win. He is such a—such a very good player; and young men, I know, are so foolish at times.'